Why is A/B testing of landing pages critical for any SaaS Business

Is the concept of A/B testing just another short-lived piece of marketing jargon? While the term has gained an astounding amount of steam in recent months, it’s not because it’s shown up in the Twitter feed of self-proclaimed marketing gurus with digital influence. A/B testing landing pages is critical for any SaaS business because it’s incredibly effective.

A recent case study by Visual Web Optimizer focused on a workout video company who A/B tested two landing pages with prices that differed by 50%. The results revealed virtually the same conversion rate, indicating the site owner could be earning an additional 34.68% in revenue just by increasing his asking price! Here are three additional reasons that A/B testing your landing pages simply isn’t optional for any subscription business:

1. Best Practices Aren’t Always True

Most tech-savvy subscription business marketers are likely familiar with many of the best practices for landing page design. Unbounce research has found that including one supporting image, matching the headline to the corresponding CTA and striving for an incredibly minimalist design will most likely help your subscription business convert more prospects into trial users.

The truth is, landing page best practices are so incredibly dynamic that thousands of case studies aren’t likely to reveal much hard-and-fast truth. Digital Technology Strategist James Gardner has compiled a number of case studies when “bucking” accepted best practices increased conversions significantly.

Removing images entirely improved conversions 24% for one organization, while adding client testimonials below the fold improved conversions 34% for another. No data set can predict what’s going to resonate best for your organization and prospects. You’ve simply got to get started building your own data sets to know for sure.

2. You Could Be Creating Barriers to Conversion

Without A/B testing, it may be impossible to tell for certain whether your color scheme, a certain form field or the layout of your landing page copy are negatively affecting your overall conversion rate. Many marketers and SaaS employees mistakenly believe that barriers to conversion are a positive factor, since a more challenging form is likely to yield more-qualified leads.

While this is true to an extent, unless your company is suffering from an abundance of unqualified leads, A/B testing with the intention of removing barriers to conversion is critical. Unless you start comparing elements of pages in single split tests, you may never know whether the images or form field that asks for zip code is causing your prospects to bounce away from your website.

3. Your Results Could Be Astounding

While even a small improvement in trial conversion rate can do wonders for a SaaS company’s bottom line, A/B can yield results that are positively remarkable. Maggie Gorgieva, Chief Content Officer at HubSpot, writes that her company found that by simply changing the offer featured on a Call-To-Action button, they were able to increase leads generated by 110%.

There’s a good chance that factors on your landing pages, from copy to layout, could have a significant affect on whether your prospects decide to engage in a trial or perform further research on your competitors. If a simple split test reveals factors that make all the difference in the world, it’s well worth your time.